Indulgence

The shoes are a Christmas gift from Grandma and Grandpa Wuehler. Liesel first spotted them in the Von Maur shoe department and she cried when we left without them. For months we "visited" them but I couldn't bring myself to buy them. Thank goodness for grandparents or she never would have owned a pair. Liesel gets nothing but smiles when she wears them in public. For that matter, Liesel IS nothing but smiles when she wears them, as you can see.

Christmas

There's a reason I've been putting off this post. In spite of my planning, organization and study of The Container Store's "How to Wrap Presents Like a Professional" tutorials, I feel like I failed with Christmas this year. Looking back, I'm sure a part of it stemmed from the fact Liesel was more in tune than ever with the idea of the holiday. The closer we got to Dec 25, the more determined I was to make it magical for her. My good intentions culminated in a very sleepless night Christmas Eve. My mind was plagued with doubts. Were the stockings sufficiently stuffed? What if she didn't like her presents? Had I done enough? It was ridiculous really. She's not old enough to remember this Christmas anyway so I'm not sure why I wasted all the mental energy.

I later read an article that advised picking what is most important TO YOU for Christmas and focus on that rather than try to do everything. After some contemplation, I realized for me it's not the presents (I know, I know... DUH!). At the top of my list is our Christmas card. I book the photo session at the end of October. I write draft after draft of the newsletter. I haul the pile of cards to the post office the day after Thanksgiving so they're the first one our friends and family receive. Throughout the year I keep two copies of our address list as up-to-date as possible. Our Christmas cards are what fill me with holiday cheer. That feeling only multiplies when we receive cards in exchange.

Next is the train. Growing up we always had an LGB train scooting around the tree. As my siblings married, they each got a train of their own. The first Christmas of our married life I eagerly anticipated getting mine. I love our train and am so happy we have one. Because we were at my parents house for Christmas, they obliged us with putting out their train. Initially they were concerned the girls would get into it but both of them showed surprising restraint. Grandpa even had the time of his life letting Ireland be the conductor.

Finally, my favorite part of Christmas is seeing the girls in Christmas pajamas. Gymboree made pajamas this year that coordinated very well with year's past. Because of that, the girls looked adorable in coordinating stripey sleepwear. It warmed the cockles of my heart to see them running around in these!

Christmas card? Check. Train? Check. Coordinating pajamas? Check. I wasted a perfectly good holiday needlessly worrying. Next year I'm going to try and keep things in perspective and just enjoy it. Hopefully this was a lesson learned for me. What's your favorite part of the holidays?

Meeting Saint Nick

Christmas just keeps getting better and better as the girls age. This year, Liesel really caught onto the idea of Santa Claus. She fell in love with books like 'Twas The Night Before Christmas and The Polar Express. Whenever she saw the jolly old elf at the mall she'd yell out his name and carefully watch him. I repeatedly told her we'd wait until Dad was in town and then we'd go meet Santa Claus as a family. Christmas Eve seemed the perfect time to do it anyway. I dressed the girls in their most festive holiday outfits and prepped Liesel for the introduction. Considering all her excitement about Santa up to that point, I thought it would be a breeze.

Liesel cried as if we'd handed her over to a serial killer. Ireland contentedly sat on his lap like it was her second job. Santa was great though and patiently waited until Liesel warmed up to him. Turns out he used to do gymnastics and they bonded over their shared hobby. Santa handed his sleigh bells over to Ireland and they were fast friends from the start. I love, love, LOVE the photo! They had to take a few because Liesel was crying so hard. Believe it or not, this is her most mellow moment. Classic.

Merry Christmas!

This was a forward from my sister Reagan. I laughed, laughed, laughed. Hope you do to!!!

Army Crawl

I received a request from my sister to get video of Ireland doing her army crawl. She can actually crawl like a regular baby but seems to prefer this method. Both of her big toes have blisters on them from doing this. Believe it or not, she can really haul when she wants to. From behind it's cute to see her little bum shifting rapidly from side to side. Sorry some of the video is shaky. Liesel was hanging on me.

The Tumbling Toddler

One of the benefits of squatting at my parent's home during Brent's job search is we were able to enroll Liesel in gymnastics. The local gym offered a Mommy and Me class on Thursday mornings which was ideal because it was during Ireland's nap time. My mom was happy to cuddle with the sleeping baby while I took Liesel to the gym. Ireland slept better and Liesel and I loved having our private time. In just a few classes I was amazed at her progress. She went from being afraid of being upside down to doing somersaults repeatedly. In spite of being afraid of the swing at the playground, she was eager to hang onto the rings and swinging by her hands. I think most kids enjoy the trampoline but she was able to bounce on her butt which is actually a little tricky for her age. Now every time I turn around she's doing a handstand on the couch. During her last class she was holding onto a parallel bar and she put her feet through her hands and flipped backwards. I couldn't believe it! I was so proud of her.

Liesel not only loved the class but she absolutely adored her new wardrobe of leotards. I put her hair in pigtails to keep it out of her face but to still enable her to do her headstands and somersaults. Her teachers always gushed about her pigtails and I have to admit she looked dang cute. The only downside to a Mommy and Me class is it's hard to get video when you're assisting with handstands and backward rolls. I got a couple though and thought I'd post them even if they aren't terribly impressive!

HALLELUJAH!

Brent received a job offer from a capital funding group. They are located in downtown Chicago next to the river and the Opera House on the loop. They seem to be as excited to have him as we are for him to work there. He begins January 18.

Brent pointed out he received the good news exactly 5 years to the date we ran into each other at that fateful Christmas party in Arizona. You know, the party that led to our reacquainting which led to our long-distance relationship which led to Brent moving to Boston and our engagement, marriage, two children and desire to move to Chicago. The adventure continues!

We are SO ecstatic!

Negotiation

While sitting in Sacrament Meeting on Sunday Liesel asked for snacks. It was the Christmas program and I didn't want to rustle through the diaper bag to find them. She frowned at me and said, "But I'm being QUIET!!!" Up to that last word she had actually been very well behaved.

Despite the irony, her argument won her some Veggie Tale fruit snacks.

Stranded

For Brent's latest round of interviews in Chicago I decided to take Liesel along to meet him. Even though the day would be spent driving him from one appointment to another I thought she might enjoy some face time with him. She's also really good in a car. Brent and I agreed to rent a car that had cruise control because driving my parent's truck which is a stick through heavy traffic isn't much fun. Not to mention the extended cab, long bed and super long trailer hitch are a little tricky to parallel park in downtown Chicago.

Turns out even Liesel has her limits in the car. About an hour outside of Chicago she informed me she didn't want to get Dad from the airport, she wanted to go home. She also told me she had to go potty and it was a loooong stretch until the next exit. The poor girl had to hold it for almost half an hour. She made it though and cheered considerably when we finally had Dad with us.

The day went by relatively quickly and I was able to take her to the Woodfield Mall so she could get her energy out on the playland. We also went to a Crate and Barrel where she charmed the shopkeepers while I coveted just about everything there. We battled traffic to pick up Brent from his final interview of the day and then departed downtown Chicago at 5:30 PM. Needless to say it was practically gridlock. After an hour we decided to pull off and get a good meal. Brent spotted a place called Uncle Julio's Hacienda and we decided to try it.

Bad move. VERY bad move. We got back on the freeway with very full bellies and traffic hadn't dissipated as much as we'd hoped. It was getting later and darker. We'd both been up since 3AM and now we were digesting Mexican food. Then there was the fog. Not a creepy fog that keeps you on your toes, but a dream-like beautiful fog that should be accompanied by Enya music. Our conversation turned from the events of the day to generic talk just to keep each other awake. "So uh... you're TALL, right?" Then Liesel started to fuss.

After a lot of debate, we called my parents and told them we were finding a hotel for the night. With another two hours of driving to go there was no way we'd make it. We pulled off in Dixon and stopped at the Comfort Inn. Luckily there was a Wal Mart next door. After securing a room I ran in to get some Pull-Ups and grabbed the first pair of pajamas I saw. Liesel was thrilled to be in a bed and she LOVED the pajamas. After a good night's sleep and a hot breakfast, we headed out.

The funny thing about all of this is how it made me feel so grown up. I remember traveling with my family as a kid and Mom was always the one to run in and take care of things. To break up the tedium she usually got treats like cookies... maybe even new pajamas. As a kid it was always so exciting to stay in a hotel and I guess I never considered what it was like on my parents end. Nonetheless, it was an adventure and I actually enjoyed it. The Comfort Inn in Dixon, IL will always hold memories for us now!

Still Not Funny

Liesel decided to go swimming in a brand-new 41.8 oz can of Enfamil formula. Bought from Costco on our last trip to Chicago since there are none anywhere near Iowa City. For $38 if you'd really like to know. If it weren't all over the floor I might have been able to salvage some but it was a complete loss. I had to vacuum the vacuum because the powder was EVERYWHERE! I sent pix messages to my family. My parents who had been out to lunch abruptly came home. Dad asked me what possessed Liesel to do this and I told him, "There is not to make reply, there is not to reason why, there is but to do and die." As part of Homicide Prevention Week they offered to watch the girls while I either went to the gym or took a nap. I burned 600 calories on an elliptical.

Maybe another 10 years and I'll laugh? Oh, and Ireland is now on regular milk.